Vascular Health and Risk Management (Aug 2022)
Risk Factors for Calcific Aortic Valve Disease in Afghan Population
Abstract
Abdul Ghafar Sherzad,1,2 Muhibullah Shinwari,3 M Azim Azimee,2 Arash Nemat,1,4 Qingchun Zeng1,5 1Department of Cardiology, State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Nangarhar University, Nangarhar, Afghanistan; 3Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Nangarhar University, Nangarhar, Afghanistan; 4Department of Microbiology, Kabul University of Medical Sciences, Kabul, Afghanistan; 5Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory, Guangzhou, 5100050, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Abdul Ghafar Sherzad, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Nangarhar University, Nangarhar, Afghanistan, Tel +937 83545284, Email [email protected] Qingchun Zeng, Department of Cardiology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 1838 Northern, Guangzhou Ave, Guangzhou, 510515, People’s Republic of China, Tel/Fax +86 20-61360416, Email [email protected]: Evidence from previous studies suggests that calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is not an unavoidable consequence of aging, and may be linked to explicit risk factors. However, little is known regarding the Afghan population in this context. The current study aimed to identify the clinical features of CAVD and determine independent risk factors for CAVD in the Afghan population.Patients and Methods: A case-control study was conducted among 1072 Afghan participants (age > 18 years) from January 2018 to December 2020. The study participants were divided into two groups based on echocardiographic findings: 536 individuals with CAVD and 536 age- and sex-matched controls. Data were collected using questionnaires from the medical records of all cases and controls. The independent predictors of CAVD were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analysis.Results: The mean age of study participants was 65.3 ± 13.5 years (range, 20– 100 years). Of the 536 patients with CAVD, 77 (14.4%) had aortic valve stenosis, 415 (77.4%) had aortic valve calcification, and 44 (8.2%) had bicuspid aortic valve. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that sedentary lifestyle (odds ratio [OR] = 2.517, p = 003), diabetes mellitus (DM) (OR = 1.902, p = 006), high body mass index (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) (OR = 1.776, p = 005), good socioeconomic status (OR = 1.724, p = 021), and hypertension (OR = 1.664, p ˂0.001) were independent risk factors for CAVD in the Afghan population.Conclusion: It was observed that sedentary lifestyle, diabetes mellitus, high BMI (≥ 30 kg/m2), good socioeconomic status, and hypertension are independent risk factors for the development of CAVD compared to those with a normal aortic valve in the Afghan population.Keywords: aortic valve sclerosis, aortic valve calcification, aortic valve stenosis, risk factors for atherosclerosis, independent risk factors
